With more than 300 films, documentaries, shorts and immersive works packed into this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), deciding what to see can be a challenge.
But don’t worry, MIFF Ambassador and Uncle Jack Charles Award jury member Mark Coles Smith – one of Australia’s most acclaimed screen talents – has some suggestions.
This year’s MIFF is currently underway until August 23rd, with its online program kicking off today (August 14th). The sprawling 74th edition features work from filmmakers including Pedro Almodóvar, Gus Van Sant and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, alongside a substantial slate of new Australian cinema.
Smith – a proud Nyikina actor, writer and producer – has shared his top five picks from the 2026 program with Variety Australia, spanning confronting international cinema and First Nations filmmaking to a surreal Australian comedy featuring a foul-mouthed magpie.
The AACTA, Logie and international award nominee is best known for his role as Detective Jay Swan in “Mystery Road: Origin,” with further credits including Netflix’s hit “Apple Cider Vinegar,” “We Bury the Dead,” “Beast of War” and “The Clearing.” Beyond acting, Smith has created award-winning documentaries, composed music, and worked across theatre, television and audio.
Check out his picks below.
“Minotaur”
Mark Coles Smith: When I think back on some of the most memorable cinema experiences I’ve attended, they were often some of the most challenging to watch, and in spite of my best efforts, it’s been a recurring festival trend of mine to hunt down the kind of films that could take days or even weeks to unpack, and where you leave the cinema needing to talk to someone else about having endured it. Last year’s Festival pick “Sirat” by Oliver Laxe comes to mind, and I think the decade long wait for the return of Director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s and his new film “Minotaur” might also mark one of these occasions.
Andrey is an austere and uncompromising filmmaker, and a chronicler of contemporary Russian stories that have a somewhat parable quality to them. In his latest film, he explores the intersections of state authoritarianism and moral compromise, through the intimate pressure cooker of a deteriorating marriage. Set on the precipice of Russia’s 2022 invasion into Ukraine, “Minotaur” has been hailed as a furious and precise meditation on the moral and psychological atmosphere that war can create in one’s home.
“Sovereign Shorts”
Smith: This collection of short films gives four Victorian First Peoples filmmaking teams the space to explore Treaty as a lived experience and an ongoing expression of personal Sovereignty. The films move through Country, protest, dance, and personal testimony all while embodying the lasting realities of Indigenous survival.
Thanks to Victoria’s First Nation’s leadership, historic change is already well underway here in the form of Australia’s first formal legislated Treaty, but the issue of Treaty across Australia more broadly continues to remain a subject of ongoing political polarisation and systemic failure. I think that makes the chance to hear from our contemporary filmmakers on the subject as important as ever before, and a reminder that Treaty is not just about what Governments are prepared to legislate, but about what First Peoples have continued to practice, protect and carry forward all along.
“Whispers in the Woods”
Smith: “Whispers in the Woods” follows wildlife filmmaker Vincent Munier into the verdant French forests of the Vosges with his young son and father. On the outset, they’re searching for the endangered Western Capercaillie, a prehistoric-looking grouse of Europe’s old forests, famous for its fan-tailed courtship display and peculiar clicking song. But aside from this rare bird, and the obvious chance of getting lost in the mesmerising imagery, the appeal for me is in seeing how these three generations of men move quietly through a landscape that remains a source of wonder and connection for them, and anyone else with the care to witness it.
I’m easily absorbed by works that are able to transport me deeply into a place, and reveal a corner of the Earth I would have loved to have seen for myself. Munier is an extraordinary wildlife photographer, and the film’s sound design and score, which features Warren Ellis, is primed as a perfect companion to this mediation on the precious beauty of our natural world.
“Guided by Horses”
Smith: This is the most personal choice on my list because I had the privilege of coming aboard as one of the film’s executive producers.
“Guided by Horses” is set at home in the Kimberley and follows Professor Juli Coffin’s extraordinary work using equine-assisted learning to support First Nations teenagers. The circumstances surrounding youth suicide in our region are incredibly serious, but what I’ve found particularly valuable about Juli’s work is that it doesn’t reduce young people to grim statistics or present them as problems that needs to be solved.
The film is a showcase of that genuine, grounded work making a difference to so many young lives, and provides a window into the unique kind of honesty that can emerge between a person and a horse. Juli’s work recognises that healing depends on trust, and that some of the most powerful connections don’t require words.
I’m extremely proud that “Guided By Horses” will have its world premiere at MIFF.
“The Fox”
Smith: Wrapping up my selections with some home spun, feral absurdity is “The Fox,” an all Australian, animatronic fever dream, littered with small town dysfunction and profanity slinging bush creatures. The film sees Jai Courtney navigating his romantic struggles with the help of a sly, silver-tongued Fox, voiced by Olivia Colman, in a performance that pitches a perfect blend of reassuring warmth and unsettling Machiavellianism.
Director Dario Russo has conjured forth a delirious fable that uses genre and comedy to sneak up on some uncomfortable truths about desire, entitlement and the ridiculous ways human beings avoid the consequences of their choices.
And finally, in light of Sam Neill’s recent passing, the film is now a bittersweet opportunity to hear the unmistakeable warmth, mischief and dry wit of one of our greatest performers, living on through the voice of a foul mouthed magpie. That alone is worth the admission.